Brumbies-Lions recap

Sky Sports brings you all the best of the action, reaction and opinion from Canberra Stadium.

By Tony Curtis - Follow me on Twitter @SkysportsTC

Last Updated: 18/06/13 4:15pm

Following the 14-12 loss at the Canberra Stadium, we bring you all the best of the action, reaction and opinion.

Battling Brumbies tame Lions

The British and Irish Lions suffered their first defeat of this year's tour of Australia as the Brumbies claimed a 14-12 victory at Canberra Stadium. With the first clash against the Wallabies looming on Saturday the Lions fielded a second-string side, but several members of the starting XV may have to done more harm than good to their chances of a Test call-up later in the series. A disjointed performance did improve when Warren Gatland called for the replacements from the bench, but it was too late.

How the Lions rated

The British and Irish Lions lost their first match on the 2013 tour after a disappointing 14-12 defeat to the Brumbies. Two penalties apiece from Stuart Hogg and Owen Farrell were all the Lions could muster at the Canberra Stadium. The result means the Lions have lost to a provincial side in Australia for the first time in 42 years. And following the loss in Canberra, we assess how the tourists fared in the last warm-up game ahead of the three-Test series against the Wallabies.

Gatland: Not good enough

Lions head coach Warren Gatland admitted his frustration after the shock 14-12 defeat to the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium. Gatland, whose side must regroup ahead of Saturday's first Test against Australia, said afterwards: "It's just disappointing. In fairness to the Brumbies, they played well and put us under pressure at the breakdown. We have no excuses. Our performance wasn't good enough so we got what we deserved. The breakdown was disappointing."

Best: Standards slipped

Match-day skipper Rory Best admitted the Lions let their standards drop in the 14-12 defeat to the Brumbies in Canberra. "If you look across our team there was plenty of quality there," he said. "We just got beaten up at the breakdown tonight. We definitely got nervy at the lineout and certain units misfired. At this level, you're always going to be under pressure if you can't secure that ball. I think the forwards will stand up and take a lot of the heat, and deservedly so."

White 'honoured'

Jake White felt honoured after leading the Brumbies to a deserved 14-12 victory over the British and Irish Lions. He said: "This is as big as it gets for me. I really would have liked to coach against the Lions with the Springboks but unfortunately it didn't materialise. I won a World Cup and it's obviously a massive achievement, but I'm really honoured to have the opportunity to coach against the Lions with a group of young players, who will now be remembered in history."

The lowdown

The Sky Sports panel give their verdict on the 14-12 loss to the Brumbies in Canberra. Sky Sports expert Paul Wallace said: "Warren Gatland decided it was all about the Tests and did not bring on the bench that little bit earlier that you normally would have done. When they did come on they did very well. Parling and Hibbard sorted out the line-out, but there was too much to do and the game was really lost in that first half. Everything was just a bit flat and no one really stood up and took responsibility."

Brumbies 14 British and Irish Lions 12 - As it happened

Relive the British and Irish Lions' victory against the Brumbies in Canberra with our commentary from the match. Click here for the game as it happened, or click here for the best of the images.

Also See:

Post a comment

First Name

Last Name

Email

Display name

Message

Sky and our business partners may use your information to contact you about products and services you may like. By pressing submit you are indicating your agreement to this unless you tick the box to opt out.